TEARLINE
The Washington Post editorial board speaks: The Pentagon and CIA accounts describe a reaction to the attack that, while inadequate, was the best that could be mustered. Even if so, that leaves the question of why the various agencies were not better prepared for such an emergency, given the clear warnings. Did the Obama administration’s political preoccupation with maintaining a light footprint in Libya lead to an ill-considered reliance on local militias, rather than on U.S. forces? Given the region’s instability, why were no military rapid-reaction assets — such as Special Forces or armed drones — within reach of Northern Africa? While the agencies separately defend themselves — or not — the White House appears determined to put off any serious discussion of Benghazi until after the election.
ON THE FIGHT
“Large organizational change in the United States occurs in evolutions, not revolutions.”
Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno announced that Army, Marine Corps and Special Operations Command officials are working together to stand up the Office of Strategic Landpower to evaluate how the U.S. military’s ground forces will transition within the new defense strategy and the pivot to the Pacific.
U.S. cities become hubs for Mexican drug cartels’ distribution networks —The cartels are filling the void. Mexican-produced meth now accounts for 80 to 90 percent of the product sold in the United States, and it is swiftly moving into major urban hubs including Phoenix, Denver, St. Louis, Chicago and Atlanta, according to the DEA. Experts say Mexican cartels have also been calculating in their use of violence. In Mexico, more than 60,000 people have been killed in the past six years in mass murders, beheadings and mutilations as the cartels have fought for control.
While the U.S. Air Force’s drones have been firing all sorts of air-to-surface missiles and bombs for roughly a decade now, the Navy took a big step toward getting in on the action last week when it launched six Israeli-made Spike missiles from an unmanned 36-foot motorboat. The Navy pretty much admits that the project — called the unmanned surface vehicle precision engagement module (USV PEM) — is aimed at defeating threats that are straight out of Iran’s war plans for the Persian Gulf region.
About three hours after the American diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, came under attack, the Pentagon issued an urgent call for an array of quick-reaction forces, including an elite special [operations] forces team that was on a training mission in Croatia.
The Navy moves aggressively to conduct so-called human-derived information collection.
ON RESOURCES
A gas pipeline feeding Yemen’s only liquefied natural gas export terminal will take about one week to be repaired following an attack on it last week. The 320-kilometre gas pipeline that links Block 18 to the Belhaf terminal on the Gulf of Aden was attacked on 31 October.
ON TECH
More than 11 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it remains possible to use fake boarding passes to get through airport security checks, according to new evidence from security researchers and official documents. The security vulnerabilities could allow terrorists or others on “no-fly” lists to pass through airport checkpoints with fraudulent passes and proceed through expedited screening. They could even allow them to board planes.
ON SECRECY – OR LACK THEREOF
The State Department’s Office of Inspector General has issued a report on the State Department’s FOIA Operations. The report sharply criticizes the Department’s handling of its FOIA duties. One of the surprising findings is that with a rising backlog, the FOIA Office allowed some of its employees to be detailed to Brazil to assist that country in the processing of its FOIA requests.
An Army staff sergeant accused of massacring 16 Afghan civilians in southern Afghanistan this past spring is expected to make his first court appearance on Monday during an evidentiary proceeding that could shed new light on one of the most barbaric war crimes attributed to a U.S. service member.
CONTRACTS
Consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton reported lower net earnings in its latest quarter as revenue eased. Booz Allen said in a statement that net earnings in the fiscal 2013 second quarter ended Sept. 30, declined 38 percent to $46.1 million, or 27 cents per diluted share, from $75.3 million, or 53 cents per diluted share, in the prior year period.
Five small businesses have won an $851 million Air Force contract. After extensions, the original contract had a ceiling of $655 million, and Jacobs had received $627.8 million in task orders over six years under the contract.
Robert Caruso is a veteran of the United States Navy, and has worked for the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, Business Transformation Agency and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
